Apron mechanism for cigar machines



May 27, 1941. s. CLAUSEN 2,243,745

APRON MECHANISM FOR CIGAR MACHINES Filed April 13, 1938 no 0 30 15 3.5 A26 26 27 11 .IJZ o i 5] II I 0 ,24 FIG. I v 20 ATTORNEY Patented May 27, 1941 UNITED STA-res PM APRON ME'CI-EANISM roe cross. MACHINES Sigurd 'Clausen, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to International Cigar Machinery Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application April 13, 1938, Serial No. 201,667

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a cigar machine, especially to mechanism for rolling cigar bunches, and more particularly to the apron rolling means for such a bunch rolling mechanism.

In the operation of a bunching mechanism provided with a rolling table and rolling apron, it is desirable that the apron should be drawn taut from the rolling table in the back swing of the roller, and before the cigar bunch is placed in the apron pocket by the transfer the apron should be loosened in order to provide a pocket therein as the transfer pushes down into the same.

Hitherto in accomplishing the above-mew tioned tensioning operation, provision has been made of a cam intended to draw the apron taut, but the use of this device is subject to the disadvantage that the cam must be modeled for different diameters of cigars.

Under such conditions, it is an object of the present invention to provide means by which a rolling apron of the above character can be adjustably tensioned for different diameters of cigars without modeling the cam which draws the apron taut and to this end an adjustable cam piece is provided.

A further object is to provide a cam with a spring-biased cam piece to tension an apron so that it may be drawn taut to compensate for slight variations in the diameters of cigars upon which the rolling mechanism is operating, without the necessity for manual settings of the cam to effect such compensation, as by adjustment of the apron operating linkage. Such adjustment might otherwise stretch and distort or break the apron to its anchorage at its stationary end, and

in pursuance of thislatter object toprovide a securing means comprising a pin which is passed through a loop of the rolling apron into a socket which holds one end of the pin, the other end of pin being fitted into a member having a bayonet slot or other suitable form of connection for locking the pin in place and so constructed and arranged as to permit withdrawal of the pin readily when the bayonet connection is operated in reverse.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected for illustration of the invention progresses.

In the accompanying drawing, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation of a cigar machine in the construction of which the present invention has been embodied;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view on a largerscale of the cam device for tensioning the apron, the view being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in end elevation of the apron securing means constituting a feature of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view in vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the now-preferred embodiment of the invention selected for illustration and description, the reference characters It respectively designate the side frames of a table H carrying a rolling table I4 over which swings the rolling pin l5 which is adjustably carried by an arm l6 pivoted onv a shaft I! supported by frames It. The rolling table I; supports a block l2 carrying the apron securing arm IS.

The arm I6 is actuated by a connecting rod [8 which derives its motion from a cam (not shown) of the type disclosed in Reissue Patent No. 20,334, granted to Gladeck, et al. on June 2'7, 1933, to which reference may be had for a more complete description, and the same is omitted herein, for the sake of brevity.

In the side frames Hl is journalled the cam shaft I9 of the machine, which is actuated by means disclosed in said patent, and carries a cam 20 which is designed to tension and control the rolling apron 2!.

For this purpose, in the illustrative form herein shown, the cam actuates a cam follower roller 22 mounted at one end of a bell-crank lever 23 pivoted on a shaft 24 supported by frames In. The vertically extending arm of the lever 23 supports one end of a rod 25 connecting the lever 23 to an apron-tightener arm 26 which is pivoted on the shaft l9. This rod has right-and-left threaded ends, and can be turned by a knurled handle 8 to effect minor adjustments. The upper end of bell-crank lever 23 supports one end of a tension spring 21 having its other end fastened on a stud 28 carried by a lug 29 extending from table H, the spring serving to hold the cam roller 22 in engagement with the cam 20.

In the instance illustrated, a bunch charge B has been delivered into the pocket of the rolling apron 2! by a plunger forming part of a transfer mechanism, not shown, and which may be of a construction well-known in the art, or of other wise suitable form, and the aforesaid bunch B is rolled by the rolling pin l5 into a binder laid on the apron by an operator, thereby forcing the bunch B into a holder or clip 33 at the end of the rolling pin stroke.

The apron 2i is fastened to the forward end of table H by a strip 3| and passes over a roller 32 of the apron-tightener arm 26, the other end of the apron having a loop 33 providing for the reception of a pin 34 which is held in vertically extending lugs 35 and 36 of the arm l3 and serves to anchor securely the loop-end 33 of the rolling apron.

The portion of the apron 2| on which the binder is laid, and the corresponding portion of the table M, which is hollow, are perforated, and the table is connected with a suitable source of suction, not shown, and which may be of any well-known, or otherwise suitable structure, for the purpose of holding the binder flat on the apron until it is rolled.

The cam 29 has slots 37 and 38, of which the former is designed to guide an adjustable plate 39 fastened therein by bolts 4|, while a yieldable cam piece 40 is movable slidingly in the slot 38. The member 39 also has a projecting lug 42 against which rests one end of a coil spring 43 under compression, the other end of the spring pressing against the member 40 in order to bias it radially outward until arrested by the limit pin 45 which projects into the slot from the member 39.

In this way the plate 39 and cam piece 40 can be adjusted asa unitary structure to suit all cigar diameters and swings.

The spring-tensioned cam piece 48 is constructed and arranged to pull the apron taut just before the suction is applied to retain the binder in place on the apron, and the apron is also protected from being torn or stretched unduly, inasmuch as the draft on the apron will operate, through the rod 25 and bell-crank 23, to cause the roller 22 to depress the cam piece 40 when in registry therewith and thus relieve any undue strain upon the apron.

As a now-preferred form of means to anchor to table M one end of the apron 2|, provision is made of a pin 34 which passes through and supports the looped end 33 of the apron 2|. The pin 34, as shown in Fig. 3, is seated at its forward (left-hand) end in a socket in the upright lug 35, into which the pin may be readily inserted at will, while the shank of the pin, near the other end thereof, as indicated at 34- in Fig. 4, traverses horizontally the larger end of a vertical slot 5| of keyhole shape, from which upright slot extend one or more horizontal branch slots or grooves 52, designed to receive a stud 53 on the pin, which stud serves as the stud of a conventional bayonet joint, to lock the pin 34 against the bias exerted by a spring 53 coiled between the pin-head or handle 54 and a loose sleeve 57 which is thus springpressed against the upright side of lug 36 remote from the side formed with the slots 52. This showing of a bayonet slot locking device is not intended to exclude the use of other suitable forms of locking means to hold the pin positively in place.

By pressing the handle-knob or pin-head 54 inwardly, the stud will be disengaged from the slot 52 which it normally occupies, and the head 54 may then be turned to rotate the pin 34 and stud 50 a quarter-turn, into a position where the stud 50 is in upright registry with the upright slot portion 5| and permits lengthwise withdrawal of the pin 34, carrying with it the stud 50, collar 5?, spring 53 and head 54.

After the loop 33 has been thus freed by withdrawal of the pin 34, and the strip 3| has been withdrawn in known manner to release the forward end of the apron from the forward end of table M, the used apron can be removed readily from the roller 32 at the free end of the apron tightener arm 25, and discarded. A fresh apron can then be installed .readily, by a repetition of the operation first above described.

From the foregoing disclosure, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that by providing the mechanism illustrated and described, applicant has solved in a satisfactory manner the problem of providing means for replacing outworn rolling aprons in a cigar bunch rolling mechanism, and has also satisfied the needfor an automatically adjustable tensioning device, actuated by a spring-biased movable cam section into self-adjusting engagement with a roller operating a system of levers to tension automatically a roller apron for rolling cigar bunches having various diameters, no manual modeling of the cam being required: also the further object of providing means adjustable readily to compensate for size differences of cigars has been satisfied.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigar machine having a mechanism for rolling bunches including a rolling table and a rolling apron, tensioning means for controlling the tension of said apron, said tensioning means comprising an element engaging the apron and having a throw suificient to tension the same, a cam follower actuating said element, a link adjustably connected to said element and follower to vary the extent of the forward throw of said element to permit rolling of bunches of various diameters and a rotary cam actuating said cam follower, said rotary cam having an adjustable cam piece for varying the movement of said cam follower to vary the extent of the rearward throw of said element to compensate for adjustments of the forward throw, and said cam. piece having a yieldable portion arranged to engage said follower and move said element to the limit of its rearward threw for tensioning said apron and for yielding to abnormal tensions on the apron.

2. In a cigar machine having a mechanism for rolling bunches, including a rolling table and a rolling apron; tensioning means to draw said apron taut, said tensioning means comprising a cam device formed with a yieldable cam piece; and a yielding member engaging said apron for tensioning the same and having a cam follower engaging and actuated by said cam device and its cam piece, said yieldable cam piece being arranged to displace said member to the rearward limit of its throw to pull said apron taut.

3. In a cigar machine having a mechanism for rolling bunches, including a rolling table and a rolling apron; tensioning means to draw said.

apron taut, said tensioning means comprising a cam device formed with a yieldable cam piece; and a lever member engaging said apron for tensioning the same and having a cam follower engaging and actuated by said cam device and its cam piece, said yieldable cam piece being arranged to displace said member to the rearward limit of its throw to pull said apron taut.

SIGURD CLAUSE-N. 

